Thursday, February 9: Shelly Lowenkopf

Screenwriters Association
of Santa Barbara

Presents

Nationally Renown Book Editor

Shelly Lowenkopf

"How to Unfriend Your Characters"

Thursday, February 9, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 617-4503
FREE and open to everyone!

Shelly Lowenkopf has held major editorial positions with general trade, mass market paperback, literary, and scholarly book publishers in addition to executive editorial participation in special interest, literary, and genre fiction magazines. Those companies include: Sherbourne Press (Editor-in-Chief); Dell Publishing (Director, Los Angeles office); Clio Books (Editor-in-Chief); Ross-Erickson (Editor-in-Chief); and, Capra Press (Advisory and Acquisitions Editor). He has seen over seven hundred book projects and hundreds of short story and essay projects through the publishing process.

Currently a freelance consultant and teacher, his clients include novelists, retired and active academics, and the humorist creator of one of the most popular television series of all time.Lowenkopf taught courses in short story, novel, dramatic writing, editing, genre fiction, and revision at the graduate level in one of the most prestigious writing programs in America at University of Southern California, where he was given a Lifetime Teaching Award.

He is a past regional president of the Mystery Writers of America; his book reviews have appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The National Catholic Reporter, The Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Publishers’ Weekly, the Santa Barbara News-Press, and the Santa Barbara Independent. He has been the weekly reviewer for the Montecito Journal since 2005.

Lowenkopf has had over 35 books published, along with short fiction, pulp novels, essays and reviews. His most recent book, The Fiction Writer’s Companion, is a guide to terms, concepts, and forms related to storytelling.

Meeting minutes for Thursday, January 12, 2012

Screenwriters Association of Santa Barbara met again at Brooks Institute on Cota Street. A stunning exhibit of student work, mostly documentary photography lined the walls as the group made their way to hear Candace Schermerhorn speak about making documentary films.

Lisa Angle opened asking for any announcements. Chuck Kent mentioned an upcoming film called The Secret Ingredient directed SASB Past President Rashi Bahri Chitnis. It will be shown February 2 at the Metro 3. as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Maria announced the upcoming play The Jaguar’s Nest by Synergy Entertainment Group.

Members were asked to donate $25 so visiting speakers can be taken to dinner before the lecture and to help with expenses. It’s so little, let’s all chip in because the speakers are world class. Such was the experience of listening to Candace Schermerhorn. As a producer, director, and writer her expertise and passion lie primarily in first person narrative and documentaries addressing contemporary issues. Her credits include work for Children’s Television Workshop, the National Park Service, Massachusetts Council for the Humanities, Harcourt Brace Publishers, American Masters, and Turner Broadcasting. She directed, with Bestor Cram, the independent award-winning documentary You Don’t Know Dick, an intimate film about female-to-male transsexuals. For many years she has taught documentary film making at Santa Barbara City College and was the Director of Programming for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

It was amazing to watch clips of the films after listening to the lecture. Candace told the group that documentaries start with footage and more footage. “That’s what the film will become,” she said. “You won’t know what you have till you go back over it.” And even then it might not be what you expect. She explained the process of writing the story from the transcripts. Every single line, every single expression, every sound are painstakingly recorded, and in this way, the story is culled from the masses of footage a documentarian shoots.

She showed the group an immense idea board made of tiny different colored Post-it notes that was the organizing principle behind her film of women in Nigeria called The Naked Option.

“Documentary film making is about what truth is going to evolve,” she told the audience. “Observe as much as possible.” On truth, she cautioned the audience “Whose truth are you telling? All documentaries are exploiting on some level, and what is truth shifts and varies.” Always be prepared to defend your choices. “You are challenging truth and it is challenging you at the same time.”

The bigger story in a documentary is made up of all the little stories, she said. Sometimes it just takes one little line from the transcripts to tie everything together. The lines and the shots of expressions act as bridges to tie the greater whole of the story together. “Train yourself to be moved by stories, to look for them and be moved by them.” What the audience wants is for you as a writer to tell them things, so they can follow you as the writer. “Stick to what you know, if you love something stick to that,” she said. There are basically three questions to ask: What is my story, why do I want to do it and what am I trying to achieve?

Most impressive was watching the film You don’t know Dick. The music, the cutting and the lighting really add to this documentary in ways that show just how masterfully a story can be told in small stories that add up. You can see how this comes together at this link: http://www.myspace.com/video/northern-light-productions/you-dont-know-dick/27328935

It’s just seamless the way this flows as a documentary. The audience was rapt watching too. “Set things up so you can tell the story,” she said. Watch the above and you will see a master storyteller at work. This is how to make the footage flow seamlessly with the music, tapping all the little stories within stories that add up to the bigger picture.

Thursday, January 12: Documentary Filmmaker Candace Schermerhorn

Screenwriters Association
of Santa Barbara

Presents

Documentary Filmmaker

Candace Schermerhorn

Thursday, January 12, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 617-4503
FREE and open to everyone!

Candace Schermerhorn got her start at Northern Light Productions in Boston, MA where she became a staff producer. As a producer, director, and writer her expertise and passion lie primarily in first person narrative and documentaries addressing contemporary issues. Her credits include work for Children’s Television Workshop, the National Park Service, Massachusetts Council for the Humanities, Harcourt Brace Publishers, American Masters, and Turner Broadcasting. She directed, with Bestor Cram, the independent award-winning documentary You Don’t Know Dick, an intimate film about female-to-male transsexuals. For many years she has taught documentary filmmaking at Santa Barbara City College and was the Director of Programming for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. She wrote, produced and directed The Naked Option: A last resort, celebrating the grassroots mobilization of women in the Niger Delta and their struggle against the multinational oil corporations. She is currently in preproduction of her third independent feature documentary, The Last Utopia, about the ancient seafaring Lapita Navigators and their migration due to sea level rise.

Holiday Mixer at Casa Blanca

Please join other writers and filmmakers in celebrating this magical season!

Holiday Mixer
Wednesday, December 14
5-7 pm
Casa Blanca Restaurant and Cantina
330 State Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
805.845.8966

Who: Screenwriters Association of SB, The Table SB, Indiecoop: Co-operative of Independent SB Producers, SB Filmmakers

What: networking, drinking, eating, laughing, meeting new people who can help you with your projects

When: Holiday party primetime – December 14

Where: a beautiful new restaurant in the heart of Santa Barbara’s old town

Why: This is where other local entertainment production professions will be. Happy Hour prices 3-8 pm. You’ll be downtown shopping anyway. Check out the new restaurant in town. It’s gonna be fun!

Meeting minutes for Thursday, Novmeber 10, 2011

By Adrienne D. Wilson

November opened with another packed classroom for the Screenwriters Association of Santa Barbara at Brooks Institute. The Zicrees are a power couple, known as “Supermentors” in the industry.

Marc and Elaine Zicree have over 100 credits to their name, including series such as Star Trek-The Next Generation, Sliders, Deep Space Nine, Lazarus Man, Beyond Reality and Babylon 5, plus multiple pilots for NBC, ABC and Showtime. They have written for virtually every major studio and network, and their work has been nominated for the Humanitas Prize, Diane Thomas Award, and American Book Award.

Lisa Angle, President opened the meeting by reminding the group that donations to host the speakers coming up from Los Angeles can be made to Chuck Kent.

Also mentioned was a series of shorts out at UCSB coming up on November 30th. Don Hurtzfeldt of Bitterfilms.com, a UCSB graduate whose cult short films have gone on to win big awards will be at the Pollock Theater giving a showing of three plus an onstage interview afterward. See link above for more, and check the Youtube versions at this link to get a taste of an animator at work.

The Zicrees are responsible for “The Table” that has spread all over the world and can be found here in Santa Barbara at Max’s restaurant on Wednesday nights where screenwriters and filmmakers gather.

She, gamine and he tall and funny–the Zicrees filled the room with warmth and possibility.

“Be unstoppable!” The group heard that again, if you want to make a film.

“It’s about selling attachments,” they nodded. This means thinking about branding and linking, and that can terrify a screenwriter. There are two reasons for writing a screenplay the Zicrees confirmed. Two goals. One is “My goal is to reach an audience” or “My goal is to write it and sell it for money.” This made the audience laugh. Most screenwriters probably want both.

“Screenwriting isn’t a solo game, it’s a matter of gathering teams.”

Everybody in the audience was given an opportunity to talk about what they were working on as the Zicrees went around the room. Individualized feedback was key.

Teambuilding starts with The Hollywood Creative Directory which got passed around. Go through that book and make a list of 50-100 people that matter in Los Angeles. “Start figuring out how you can meet them.”

“Have a filmmaker you idolize?” You can begin by letting them know. Try and hang out where they do. “Don’t be scared.” You can start going to events and be personable. “See yourself as a peer!”

The Zicrees give classes in Hollywood, where budding screenwriters ready to make the leap into that creative directory set will learn how to chart goals with specific steps, how to really target A-List people, how to pitch yourself and your project and get agents, managers and production partners who really work for you.

Supermentoring!

Find out more at www.zicree.com and click here to learn about their classes.

Thursday, November 10: Marc & Elaine Zicree

Screenwriters Association
of Santa Barbara

Presents

Writers & Producers

Marc & Elaine Zicree

Thursday, November 10, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 617-4503
FREE and open to everyone!

Writing both individually and as a team, Marc and Elaine Zicree have over 100 credits to their name, including series such as Star Trek - The Next Generation, Sliders, Deep Space Nine, Lazarus Man, Beyond Reality and Babylon 5, plus multiple pilots for NBC, ABC and Showtime. They have written for virtually every major studio and network, and their work has been nominated for the Humanitas Prize, Diane Thomas Award, and American Book Award.

Marc and Elaine served as Executive Producers on Real Story, a pilot presentation they wrote and produced in association with OZ's Tom Fontana, starring Buffy's Armin Shimerman. They also co-wrote Two Sisters, a MOW for Warners, to which director Tony Bill was attached, and Magic Time, a two-hour pilot for Henson, which was spun off into a best-selling series of books published by HarperCollins from 2001-2005.

Author of The Twilight Zone Companion, Marc Zicree has written 15 screenplays and over 100 teleplays. He has been a guest on over 100 radio and TV shows, including The Today Show, All Things Considered and Entertainment Tonight. He currently writes best-selling novels, writes and produces TV series, network pilots and feature films, and has also been a commentator on NPR's Morning Edition.

Elaine Zicree has served as a writer, actress, director and producer Off-Broadway and in LA. She is currently working on Caesar, an independent feature she has written and will be producing. She and Marc have also recently written multiple episodes of PBS's Liberty's Kids, a dramatic series about the American Revolution starring Walter Cronkite, Michael Douglas, Billy Crystal, Dustin Hoffman and Arnold Schwarzenegger, which garnered them the Humanitas Prize nomination.

Meeting minutes for Thursday, October 13, 2011

By Adrienne D. Wilson

Jamie Fleming, Director of the Ojai Film Festival opened the lecture by encouraging the packed audience to attend the upcoming movies and the festival in Ojai. There will be 77 films shown this year. He smiled, saying that Ojai was another universe but just a stone’s throw from Santa Barbara and well worth the trip especially for the festival. A listing of films can be seen at on their website. The festival runs October 20th through the 23rd. Fleming mentioned that the film Jolene would have a special screening at the Matilija Auditorium with a question and answer session afterward with Greg Laemmle and the filmmakers. Watch the trailer for Jolene to get an idea of the caliber of the Ojai Film Festival. “We’ve got oranges, great restaurants and the pink glow of the mountains just a few minutes away,” Fleming laughed. Arrange for tickets, and it sounds as if a wonderful weekend can be yours.
______________

A screenwriter’s hands. That’s something to watch, because those hands produce magic on the page. Walter Halsey Davis has a magnificent pair of hands and they were in constant motion, sculpting the air itself as he talked to the audience about writing. “People think we write dialogue, but it’s like building a house,” he said. “You have to create a world before you can have anybody talk.” You can build that world from the very first shot, he added. “A world, a time, a certain set of expectations...”

Every scene has to be a mini-screenplay. “Start at the top of a scene and get out as fast as you can.” Davis said he learned this credo from Waldo Salt, screenwriter for the film Midnight Cowboy. You can take a look at the screenplay to see how fast it moves. “Start at the top of a scene and get out as fast as you can.”

“All you have to do is be brilliant.”

Like say, the film Network. Davis used this film classic as an example of “emotional events” in movies. He strode over to the board and wrote this line: “I have nothing to say.” You can watch the scene Davis referenced on YouTube to see how dialogue shapes everything about drama and character.“When you do your plotting you have to make each scene a surprise, but it has to seem completely inevitable.” On cutting, Davis told the audience that every frame either adds or subtracts -- no frame is neutral. “Every word adds or subtracts from the screenplay itself.”

“Each scene has to change the condition of the story, and that action is not always physical, it can be psychological.”

“Anything that makes a bad dream makes a good movie,” he said.

What you want are noble characters with flaws. This makes characters unforgettable to the audience. “Put the main character into a scene where the character has to do something that is the hardest thing in the world for that character.”

“Comedy and drama work by the same rules,” Davis cautioned mentioning Socrates -- “the unchallenged life is meaningless.”

Your writing is like a metronome going in a symphony in terms of the volume, colors of the instruments -- your screenplay can’t be loud the whole time or stay intense the whole time. “Study acting and get in plays,” he said. To learn about dramatic pacing and how actors work the material.

Davis has long been on the faculty at the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference and it was an honor to listen and watch the hands of such an accomplished writer and playwright as they flew through the air, sculpting the lecture. He has won the following awards for his work: An Emmy, a Writers Guild of America Award and two Nominations, an Edgar Allan Poe Award, two Christopher Awards, the Lucille Ball Comedy Writing Award, the Goldwyn Writing Award, the Texas Bicentennial Playwriting Award, the Red Cross Prize at the Monaco International Television Festival, The Peabody Award, The Humanitas Prize, a Golden Globe nomination, and the American College Theater Festival Playwriting Award (Region V).

To see some of his work you can check Netflix, and a list of his films are on IMDB.